All Articles Tagged Icontrol

Julie Jacobson | 05/09 11:51 AM, 6 Comments

Almost since its inception, 2Gig’s self-contained security and home automation system has worked exclusively with Alarm.com for remote monitoring and control. Now there is another option based on the cloud-based platform from iControl. The new offering, called Telguard HomeControl (press release), employs a cellular radio from Telguard, a division of Telular Corp., and back-end services from iControl—the same platform that powers ADT Pulse (but not the same version behind Comcast/Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, Cox and other cable service providers also served by iControl). 2Gig will create new versions of its… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 01/08 08:31 AM, 1 Comment

ADT (NYSE: ADT) has a big booth in the south hall of the LVCC at CES 2013. Why? Are they trying to sell security systems to CES attendees? Sure, they’ll take your business but ADT is in Vegas to get exposure for itself as a company (following the spinoff from Tyco last October) and a partner to product manufacturers and service providers. “Since we’re newly public, it’s a good time to showcase our technology,” says Amy Kabcenell, director of residential marketing. The company is demonstrating its traditional security systems but… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 12/31 11:29 AM, 0 Comments

Some important mergers and acquisitions in the custom electronics industry occurred in 2012. It wasn’t the biggest year in M&As for the industry, but it was a significant one, as some of the most iconic brands—including LiteTouch, HAI and Thiel—were snapped up by insiders and outside investors. In addition, some of the industry faithfuls left their day jobs to launch new companies. Below are some of the notable acquisitions and start-ups of 2012, complementing our feature story: “Biggest CE Stories of 2012.” Thiel Acquired by Outside Investors. It’s the end… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 09/06 03:49 AM, 0 Comments

iControl is best known for powering the cloud-based security and home automation systems offered by Comcast/Xfinity, ADT (Pulse), Time Warner Cable, Cox and other mass-market service providers. Small, independent dealers couldn’t get their hands on it. Now they can, thanks to G2i (Generation 2 Interactive), a new company founded by Jeff Zemanek and Reed Stevens. The company debuts this week the CEDIA Expo 2012. Zemanek recently left Lutron after 15 years as a sales exec there. Stevens is the son of Chris Stevens, an iControl founder who was a pioneer… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 03/05 09:08 AM, 0 Comments

Xfinity is easing consumers into the smart home. When it launched its home automation service in 2010, the cable company called it Comcast Home Security. Now Comcast is Xfinity and the service is called Xfinity Home. Period. “We had planned the name change for quite some time,” says Mitch Bowling, SVP and general manager, new businesses, Comcast Cable. “When we launched the service in 2010 in Houston, consumers did not really understand what the smart home and home automation was, but security did resonate so we decided to go out… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/21 07:53 AM, 1 Comment

In what may be the biggest money-raise in home automation history, iControl has secured another $50 million in venture capital. The company, which powers ADT Pulse and a start-up home automation initiative from Comcast/Xfinity, raised the money from Cisco, Comcast Ventures, Intel Capital, Rogers Communications and Tyco International. Tyco is the parent company of ADT, iControl’s first substantial customer. Tyco also is the parent of alarm manufacturer DSC, which announced in April that it too would offer a home automation system based on the iControl platform. iControl provides a SaaS… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/16 10:42 AM, 0 Comments

iControl Networks, based in Palo Alto, Calif., provides the home automation engine behind ADT Pulse and Xfinity Home Security. But is the platform also being rolled out by Time Warner Cable? Multichannel News thinks so. The excellent news resource for the cable industry reports today that a new home control offering from Motorola Mobility (4Home) and Honeywell will compete with iControl, “whose customers include Comcast, Time Warner Cable and ADT Security Services.” Do they know something I don’t know? I know that TWC is offering Honeywell home security systems in… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/16 07:49 AM, 5 Comments

Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI) is building a turnkey security/home automation system with the help of Honeywell Security Group, putting the duo in direct competition with iControl and Alarm.com (and possibly Honeywell's own Total Connect 2.0) -- all providers of SaaS (software as a service) for remote home monitoring and control. Motorola began its latest foray into the connected home last year when it acquired 4Home, a developer of home-control software. But 4Home never really had a product to sell with its home automation platform. That’s where Honeywell comes in. The… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 06/08 05:50 PM, 5 Comments

Today we learn a few things about Xfinity Home Security that we hadn't reported before: The monthly cost for the security/home automation service is cheaper than most, but hardly free; six more cities will get the service after last year's launch in Houston; and Xfinity will do its own security installations, rather than use a third-party provider. And one more thing: Xfinity will use iControl SMA, the home-control platform formerly known as uControl. Just as we suspected. Neither Xfinity nor iControl has made a formal announcement about the iControl deal,… View this story

Julie Jacobson | 05/24 08:16 AM, 9 Comments

Home automation product developers now have a second source for buying their Z-Wave RF components: Japan’s Mitsumi Electric Co., which calls Z-Wave a "hoped-for wireless communications technology for HAN (home area network)." Previously, manufacturers had no choice. They could only buy their Z-Wave wireless technology from Sigma Designs (NASDAQ: SIGM), the company that now owns Z-Wave creator Zensys. Sigma’s lock on Z-Wave chipsets has inhibited Z-Wave’s adoption among major international brands that don’t want to be beholden to a single source. They want competition among vendors and assurances that they… View this story